Using Technology to Assess More Criteria

ISTE Standard 3: Model Digital-Age Work and Learning

ISTE Standard 3 requires teachers to be proficient in their own technological skills, both in improving student learning and in communication with parents (ISTE).

According to Kathryn Kennedy from the School of Teaching and Learning at the University of Florida, recent years have shown an increase in the demand for online classroom options (2010). Kennedy also indicates that the most effective use of online learning seems to be the hybrid class, which is partly face-to-face and partly online. The advantages gained from online learning include a more flexible schedule and a learning experience tailored more specifically to the individual student’s needs (2010).

 The degree to which online hybridization will characterize my future class will likely be determined by my superiors, but even with a largely face-to-face class, some benefits of technology may still be integrated to make the classroom more personalized. However, before the teacher can meet a student’s learning needs, the teacher needs to know what those needs are. One digital tool that might help with assessing a student’s progress and academic needs is TeacherEase, specifically its online report card. According to the website, the program allows for two different varieties of grading, traditional and standards-based. Without debating the merits of the two types of grading, the value of the TeacherEase system is that it offers both choices. I do not know exactly how it works, since the demo appears to be mainly for current teachers, but I think the fact that it allows for multiple grading methods indicates that technology facilitates more methods of assessing student progress than paper does. Technically, I suppose teacher findings in different areas could be recorded on paper, technology allows for more information to be stored (assuming the program works correctly), whereas paper takes up space and can get lost. Furthermore, while I do not know specifically what features TeacherEase offers, something similar to TeacherEase might have the option of customizing the electronic report to show the information in a way that is most meaningful to the teacher (or parent or student), an option that paper does not offer. While gathering information to reflect on and analyze is still the teacher’s task, I think TeacherEase or similar online programs can be truly transformative in the ability to record and store additional data for teachers to reflect on and use to meet each student’s academic needs.

In addition to improving the particular student’s classroom learning, TeacherEase and similar programs allow for better communication with parents. The TeaherEase Report Card site mentions having the option of letting parents visit the report card. This technology, whether through TeacherEase or something similar, might allow parents to comment on the grades, facilitating easy communication between the teacher and the parents. In this way, because it is quicker and more direct than other communication, it might also prove to be transformative in how much the parents are able to see for themselves. Because of benefits to teachers gathering information and to parents looking at that information, online information systems might prove to have some of the benefits of online learning through the data stored and its accessibility.

References:

 

Kennedy, K. (2010). Cross-Reference of Online Teaching Standards and the Development of Quality Teachers for 21st Century Learning Environments. Distance Learning, 7(2), 21-28.

Standards-based Report Cards. Common Goal Systems, Inc. Retrieved from https://www.teacherease.com/standards-based-report-cards.aspx

 

Standards for Teachers. ISTE. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/standards/standards-for-teachers